Mop



Patented Nov. 1,1938

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

In the use of oor mops it is not unusual to add to the mop water a suitable quantity of a sterilizing agent. For reasons of sanitation it would be desirable to have this done at each use of a mop, but some users neglect the precaution utterly and others, through carelessness or absence of proper instruction or supervision, fail to take such precaution from time to time. It is the object of this invention to meet this diniculty and insure .proper sanitation at all times and to this end mops of the cord variety, made up of many parallel cords secured together and adapted to have the mop-handle secured thereto, are made to be self-sterilizing. This is accomplished by incorporating with each of many or all of the cord members of the mop a thread or strand which has been treated with and becomes the carrier of a sterilizing agent. The invention will be more fully explained hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated an embodiment of the invention, and in which:-

Figure 1 is a view of a cord mop, otherwise of ordinary construction, which embodies the invention.

Figure 2 is a View of one of the cord members with its several strands partially separated.

The improved mop, illustrated in the drawing,

is made up of many parallel cord members a, a, which may be secured together in parallelism as by means of a tape or band b, to which the cord members a, a are secured, as by stitching, as at c.

In the mop shown each cord member a, a, is .5 made up of four strands d, of suitable untreated absorbent fiber, loosely twisted together and having incorporated therewith, preferably as a core,

a string e, which may be twisted or untwisted, and has been previously treated with a suitable 10 sterilizing-agent. Such sterilizing agent should be soluble, but somewhat slowly soluble, so that it may continue to be supplied to the mop water during long continued use. Different sterilizing agents may be used to suit the conditions of use 15 of the mop. One such sterilizing agent which has been found to be satisfactory in use is a compound known as analine gentian violet.

I claim as my invention:

As a new article of manufacture, a mop com- 20 posed of a plurality of cords, each cord being composed of a plurality of strands of untreated absorbent material, loosely twisted together and each of some `of the cords having incorporated therewith a string treated with a soluble steriliz- 25 ing agent.

W. THEODORE WHITAKER. 

